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About five years ago, the President of the American Darters Association met with one of the major American sports television networks. The purpose of the meeting was to explore the possibility of broadcasting ADA championship darts matches on national television.
The network was encouraging and quite interested in expanding darts in their current broadcast lineup. But they wanted something from the sport that they had not yet seen. They wanted Americans - professional darts players who were Americans – to be the center of the media attention.
Why, asked the network executives, were Americans so seldom winning big international tournaments? Tell us more about the American darts professionals, they said. Who, and where, are the Americans in the sport of professional darts?
They are dedicated darters, the ADA President responded, but they are usually people who work at a regular job during the week, all kinds of jobs, some are lawyers, some are bricklayers, some are in sales and marketing and so on. Then on the weekends, they travel to dart tournaments which are often hosted by amateur darts organizations, but which do offer prize money. A lot of the players enter these tournaments simply to enjoy the sport.
Well, Sir, said the sports media representatives, what you have just described is not a sport, you have described a hobby. Darts is simply something that is done as a leisure time activity – on the weekends or in spare time supported by fellow darters. If you want ADA members on network television, your organization must have professionals – American Pro’s playing the game. And there must be qualification criteria to produce them.
Look at golf, to get on the PGA Pro Tour you have to qualify, you have to play a certain number of qualifying games and have demonstrated a high level of skill while doing so. Then you get to play in tournaments that are televised and viewed with interest by large numbers of people. And which, as a result, have big money corporate sponsorships.
You’ve have done so many things right at the ADA. You’ve modeled the ADL after major American sports. You’ve got a nationwide organization with standardized rules and regulations of play, a franchising system to expand the league. The ADA is the only “for-profit” organization in the United States with a national darts league. You’ve done the things required for us to do business with you. Now let us point you in a direction that we think will help you advance even faster.
The ADA President took leave of the meeting with a new insight into how our sport of darts is viewed by the American media and something of equal value – the name and phone number of the Commissioner of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA).
The PBA was founded in 1958. That first year they had 33 certified professional members. A dozen years later, 1970, they had 700 certified professional bowlers in their ranks. Now, nearly 50 years after the founding, there are thousands of past and present PBA pros.
He met with the PBA Commissioner who was also encouraging – The ADL, he said was positioned just as the PBA had been when it created the sport of professional bowling in America a half century ago. You just have to establish what a darts professional is - what kind of qualifications do darts pro’s need to meet, how they conduct themselves, what is the ethic of the sport, those kinds of issues.
After that network meeting it took over two years for the ADA to develop what is now the Professional Darter Certification Program. ADA members from the ranks of the American Darter League can now become certified professionals.
In the first two years, the ADA identified 138 of its members who qualified under the ADL Certified Professional Darter program. Roughly the same rate of growth that the PBA experienced when it launched its professional players program.
It should be noted that not every ADA member who qualifies as a professional darter becomes one. When an ADL member qualifies they are notified with a copy of the ADL Professional Darters Agreement. This agreement includes the ADL Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics. In the first year 42 ADL members received a qualification notice, 36 chose to become ADL Certified Professional Darters. In its second year ninety six qualified. As of this writing 86 have agreed to become certified Pros for 2007.
As with any professional discipline, becoming an ADL Professional Darter, requires planning. “You’ve got to have a plan to be a pro”, is the watchword in the ADL. There are rigorous standards, which are not characteristic of the amateur versions of the sport of darts. For example, to qualify as an ADL Certified Professional Darter, you must play year round (in each quarter of the year) and play a minimum number of 501 games per year. You must, of course, be a member in good standing with the ADA and you must compete in the Open division.
As the qualification process enters into its third year there are many exciting events planned for ADA Pro’s. For starters May 4-5-6 the city of New Orleans will host the first Professional Darters Challenge. Sponsored by the world’s largest bourbon, Jim Beam, four Championship “rings” will be awarded to two men & two women Pro’s. The first ADA’s Pro/Am will be an important event during this weekend of darts. By the end of ’07 ADA Pro exhibitions are also being planned in targeted markets across the country.
In closing, the future looks very bright for the Pro Darter Certification Process. American Pros a part of standard network programming? Stay tuned!
To enroll and become a Pro in 2008 simply join the American Dart League before March 31st. Click here for additional Pro info & the qualifying criteria.
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